Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Fantasy Outlook for C.J. Spiller

If you are looking for a great value pick in the 4th round or so (10 team draft), consider RB C.J. Spiller of the Bills.

NFL.com has him ranked at #39 and ESPN.com has him at #40--meaning that you can still select three solids before grabbing Spiller.

For those like me who drafted Spiller in the Top 10 last year only to watch him suffer through an injury plagued season, he is still the same explosive runner that he was in 2012, but with an off-season to heal his ankle.

An ESPN writer makes the valid point that Bills' RB Fred Jackson had a big workload in 2013, and the team acquired Bryce Brown as well, but I see just about every other team in the current NFL stockpiling RB options.

And Jackson got a lot of work especially in games where Spiller was injured. Spiller repeatedly would find openings, but lacked explosion and too many times would come up limping--meaning that Jackson's number was being called much more than planned.

Another reason to like Spiller?

Buffalo loves to run the ball, and he is in the final year of his contract.

The Bills finished 5th in the league last season in rushing attempts--only 13 attempts behind the second ranked team in Miami. This is quite an accomplishment considering the subpar quarterback play last season which prevented the passing game from helping them run the ball much at all.

I expect the Bills' offense to be better, they will continue to emphasize a ground attack featuring RBs, and Spiller is in a contract year. He will have extra incentive to show off his excellent speed, quickness, and remind people that he can catch the ball as well.

I believe Spiller could post big numbers again in 2014.

I recommend grabbing him in the 4th round if available.

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